Fruit and vegetables do wonders for a glowing skin and radiant health, but not the pesky pesticides that go with them. These non-gratae don’t do us any good, not even in tiny doses. Studies show that the problem, even more so than the amount itself, is the pesticide exposure frequency. Over time, even in minute quantities, they are detrimental to our health and beauty.

When possible, buy organic; if not, wash and peel all peelable nonorganic candidates. As for the others – such as salads, red fruit or grapes – they have to be thoroughly washed with the usual favourites, famed fighters of all undesirables: Soda bicarb aka baking soda, white vinegar and 3% hydrogen peroxide. There is nothing like a spoonful of soda bicarb to decontaminate all. Give it 5 minutes to work and not only does loosen the last bits of soil and sinks them to the bottom of the basin, but it also eliminates most pesticides and even radioactive particles. Yes, you read it right! In his Los Alamos Lab in New Mexico, Dr Don York has used our beloved soda bicarb to clean soil contaminated with uranium. This super hero (the bicarb) binds with uranium, separating it from the dirt. And with bicarb alone, Don York removed 92% of the uranium from contaminated soil samples. So, with Don, we say God bless our soda bicarb.

It gets even more powerful with vinegar. So, grab a beautiful bowl, fill it with cold water, add 1 glass of white vinegar and drown the unpeelable vegetables in it for 10 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of soda bicarb and let the busy bubbles do their work. Rub carefully and rinse in clean water.

Or try this other amazing combo devised by American scientist Dr Susan Summer. It works like gangbusters at killing the same undesirables, including Shigella. She explains that if the acetic acid got rid of 100 organisms and the hydrogen peroxide would get rid of 10000, the two together would get rid of 100000. Which just goes to prove good old Aristotle was right, when he said that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. But don’t mix them. They are a one-two punch sprays. Use one after the other, in whichever way you want, on your fruit and veggies and rinse carefully. Don’t forget to keep your hydrogen peroxide in an opaque spray to stop it from deteriorating.

These wise precautions will destroy most of the pesticides concentrated in the skin, but they are not powerful enough to expel systemic insecticides – the ones busily destroying bees – which penetrate the flesh of the poor produce. A study recently showed that peeling cucumbers treated with Thiometon did not suppress this dreadful villain.

Other pesticide Terminators are eagerly awaiting you with their recipes in Le Dictionnaire à tout faire anticrise